My interest in the effects of environmental variation on trait evolution drives my research. I use an interdisciplinary approach to study these effects, using tools from behavioral ecology, physiology and anatomy, quantitative genetics, and evolutionary biology.

My current work as  PERT postdoc focuses on aspects of the ‘direct benefits’ hypotheses of sexual selection, where nongenetic male traits can affect the fitness of a female or her offspring. We use puddling butterflies as a study system to explore questions on the evolution of male nuptial gifts and female preferences. In these species, males aggregate and feed from puddles, carrion and feces, in order to attain nutrients that are  passed on to females during mating as nuptial gifts. Using the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) system, we are asking whether sodium gained by males during puddling is a type of male-provided direct benefit, and whether females prefer males who provide higher quality nuptial gifts.

My graduate research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln focused on aspects of flight polyphenism in field crickets. In the course of that work, I explored questions about life-history trade-offs, alternative mating tactics, and costs/maintenance of phenotypic plasticity using Gryllus firmus and G. lineaticeps.

 

Contact Info
Chandreyee Mitra
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Entomology
Biosciences West Rm. 512
1041 E. Lowell
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
Lab phone: (520) 626-9012
E-mail: cmitra@email.arizona.edu
PERT web page: http://cis.arl.arizona.edu/PERT/people/Mitra/index.htm